About

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The University of Colorado Center for Astrobiology maintains a coherent and integrated plan for research, teaching, and community development in astrobiology. Located at a major research University, our approach is to build on the substantial institutional commitments across the entire breadth of astrobiology, to assemble a team of scientists who together span the entire range of disciplines that comprise astrobiology, and to use this group to leverage resources via participation from a larger group of scientists who do research in astrobiology. Our Co-Investigators were included based on their cutting-edge research and their desire to help build a larger program in astrobiology.

Research.Our research efforts are divided into several distinct themes that provide a structure under which the individual research tasks are organized, spanning the entire range of astrobiology disciplines. In addition, we propose a fourth theme based on the need for astrobiology technology development connected to NASA flight missions. These themes are:

Theme 1: Field studies of astrobiologically-relevant biogeochemical systems on Earth.
Using earth as a laboratory, CU-CAB investigators characterize past and present environments that inform us about the biogeochemical processes that occurred on early Earth, Mars, and beyond. A variety of analog environments are being scrutinized, including: (1) serpentinizing systems in Oman and mid-ocean ridges that power microbiology through redox chemistry, (2) acid-sulfate volcanic systems in Iceland, Hawaii, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica that host extremophiles in high temperature, low pH environments, and (3) sulfur-ice-microbe interactions in Borup fiord, Nunavut, Canada. Field studies are coupled with laboratory experiments and theoretical modeling and results are applied to similar past or present systems on Mars and Europa to assess habitability.

Theme 2: The origin and evolution of life on Earth.
The evolution of life on Earth can be broken down into five qualitatively different processes: (i) Creation of appropriate conditions for a habitable world; (ii) the origin and early development of a genetic code (iii) the evolution of biochemical pathways; (iv) the evolution of microbial life; and (v) the origins and evolution of multicellular life. We have designed our biology theme to cut across this diverse spectrum in order to examine these fundamental issues in the development of life on Earth. This allows us to gain a more subtle understanding of how life elsewhere in the universe might develop. Our explicit goal is to understand the major processes that governed the development of life on Earth, so that we can provide guidance as to the constraints on environments that will govern our search for habitable planets and life elsewhere in our solar system or on planets outside of our solar system.

Theme 3: The origin and evolution of habitable planets.
Understanding the potential for life off of the Earth requires applying our knowledge of what allows an environment to be capable of supporting life to our discoveries regarding the various environments that exist within our solar system and beyond. In doing this, we look at the different environments that exist on planets (and satellites) in our solar system and ask which ones are capable of supporting life, what factors control their habitability, and what processes are responsible for the planet having evolved so as to have suitable characteristics. To understand what makes a planet habitable and what makes a planet non-habitable, we need to look at specific characteristics of individual planets as well as at general characteristics that might apply to all planets. We approach the problem of understanding planetary habitability by looking in detail at the objects in our solar system other than the Earth that are most likely to be habitable (for example, Mars) and by examining more general physical and chemical processes that control habitability. In addition, we will examine the astrophysical issues to determine what processes govern the formation of planets to begin with.

Theme 4: Climates of early Earth, Mars, and Titan.
Understanding habitable conditions in the solar system through time requires an understanding of the climate and dynamics under which planetary atmospheres have operated. For example, early Earth’s atmosphere had only miniscule amounts of free oxygen and was mostly composed of carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The climate record of a planet can be understood through the geologic record and chemical or dynamical models and we employ both approaches. While Mars’ current atmosphere has less than 1% of Earth’s surface pressure, the geology suggests that ancient Mars had a much thicker atmosphere that allowed flowing rivers, lakes, and even possibly an ocean. We combine geological investigations with climate simulations to understand how early Mars’ atmosphere could have and must have been so different. The cold distant Saturnian moon Titan possesses a thick nitrogen-rich atmosphere but the cold temperatures lead to interesting organic chemical processes and may inform us about the earliest conditions on Earth that led to the origins of life.

Theme 5: Philosophical and societal issues in astrobiology.
Astrobiology is set apart from many other scientific disciplines by its relevance to understanding the ways in which the science interacts with the broader society. Ranging from using astrobiology as a way to better understand the nature of science to exploring the public’s fascination with the topic and the societal implications, astrobiology provides a powerful way to better understand these interactions. Our group at Colorado is one of the few groups in the country that from the beginning has exploited the connections between the sciences and the humanities, and we continue to explore these connections.

Education and public outreach. Astrobiology is a captivating field and we pursue many education and public outreach activities. These include: (1) scientific astrobiology colloquia and symposia (2) public symposia with world-renowned speakers, (3) work with K-12 educators on curriculum development and themed workshops, (4) social media.

Astrobiology community development. We are extremely active in helping to develop the astrobiology community. Activities include leadership and participation in the NAI Focus Groups, in senior-level committees that have involvement in and oversight of astrobiology research activities, on the editorial boards of astrobiology-related journals, in NASA flight missions pertinent to astrobiology (such as the MAVEN mission), and organization of national and international conferences devoted to astrobiology.

Training.CU has created a number of undergraduate and graduate level classes in astrobiology and its component disciplines. We have instituted a Graduate Certificate in Astrobiology that provides training and recognition for students who are emphasizing one of the component disciplines. We are active in training graduate students and post-doctoral research associates in astrobiology and its component disciplines.
Institutional commitment. CU has a commitment to developing the discipline of astrobiology, as seen for example in its hiring of several new faculty in astrobiology during the past few years. In addition, it is committing resources of funding from state funds, matching funds on equipment, Graduate Teaching Assistant support to enhance interactions between astrobiology research and teaching, IT/Tech personnel support, and faculty time to participate in programmatic issues in astrobiology.

Institutional commitment. CU has a commitment to developing the discipline of astrobiology, as seen for example in its hiring of several new faculty in astrobiology during the past few years. In addition, it is committing resources of funding from state funds, matching funds on equipment, Graduate Teaching Assistant support to enhance interactions between astrobiology research and teaching, IT/Tech personnel support, and faculty time to participate in programmatic issues in astrobiology.